The Canucks have signed the Sedins to matching four-year, $28 million extensions. After the deals were announced, head coach John Tortorella did not disappoint.

He went to town on those who ascribe to the theory the twins are soft players when asked about the subtleties of their game.

“I’m not sure who started it but I’m sure there are a couple of know-it-alls out there who always talk about it,” Tortorella began. “But they don’t have a clue what these guys are about.

“In our league, I think we act like idiots sometimes when that (stuff) sticks with them after you watch them play.

“I’m glad you asked the question because I’ve been dying to talk about that. These aren’t soft people. These aren’t soft players.

“I’ve had the honour, in this short time, to be with them, up close and personal and see how hard they work and see what they do on the ice.

“It pisses me off, the reputation that’s still out there. It’s so undeserving and so disrespectful.”

Asked to expand, Tortorella was more than willing.

“They play underneath the hash marks in the tough areas,” Tortorella said. “I just think people pop off who don’t have a clue what they are saying and it sticks.

“You watch how hard they play on the boards, how they protect pucks. You kind of get lost with their skill, and you think that’s what they’re about and you say ‘Oh, they’re soft people.’

“It is so wrong, because they do so many little things. Don’t make a comment without really looking at what you’re saying and looking at the people you’re talking about.

“That’s the way I feel about it.”

Tortorella has obviously let the Canucks management know how he feels about the Sedins, and GM Mike Gillis suggested getting his new coach’s approval was one of the factors in convincing the brass to sign two players, who will be 34 next fall, to four-year extensions.

“The opinion of a second coaching staff, since I’ve been here, of their play and who they are and how they conduct themselves, (age) was an easy hurdle to get over,” Gillis said. “The way we’re approaching this as an organization, it provides us with the ability to maintain a good team as some of the young players we like are integrated into the lineup in the next four years.

“They will have great leadership and great people to look up to.”

This ends an odd negotiation where you could argue either side had all the leverage and be right.

The Sedins never wanted to play anywhere else, and even if they did, the market to bring in two stars on the same team was always going to be limited.

Meanwhile, the Canucks had little choice but to extend their best players. There is no one in the on-deck circle here ready to replace their skill and leadership and, most importantly of all, their point totals.

They have had their issues in the playoffs, but there are very few players who have been as consistent as the Sedins during the past eight seasons.

And finding players like them, players who can produce at a point-a-game pace annually and make players better, in the July free agency period is unlikely.

It sure isn’t going to happen for $7 million a year.

“It would be impossible, they wouldn’t have been replaced in free agency,” Gillis said.

“You’re talking about two players and not one. To try and find two players in free agency that understand and appreciate what it means to play here in Vancouver and that would be prepared to work with us to try and maintain a really competitive team would be impossible.”

The Sedins wanted this to be their final contract in the NHL and were after a five-year deal. The Canucks, looking to mitigate risk, were trying to get them under contract with three-year extensions.

Just this week, Sedins’ agent JP Barry was expressing frustration behind the scenes of the ongoing negotiations with the Canucks because there wasn’t much movement in trying to bridge the gap.

Despite his frustration, there was never much doubt this was going to get done. It just made too much sense for both the Canucks and the Sedins.

Earlier this year, Pavel Datsyuk, who is two years older than the Sedins, signed a three-year extension for $7.5 million a season to stay in Detroit.

When Ryan Getzlaf is 34, he will be making $8.2 million. When Corey Perry is 34, he’ll be making $8 million.

The going rate for the twins on the open market is probably around $8 million, and I don’t think anyone would be surprised if they were offered $40 million each as unrestricted free agents.

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